Swirls, Scratches and small print.

[metalfab]

So, the first oil change for the 5 about 1 week ago. The weather has been awful here so you don't notice things until a nice sunny day like today. decided to wash the car and notice 3x 2 to 3"+ scratches on the hood and one on the side. Not only that, 70% for the car has swirl marks all over it, the roof, hood, etc from a quick wash they did. Too put it mildly: I'm upset.

Week 1 had squeak/rubbing noise from the rear suspension. Resolved for now however, I have been told it might reoccur.

After reading the manual over the first week or 2 I find options that "could" have been available. I would have paid for those over the "extra" coverage.

The heater vents under the front seats are next to useless, surely they could have routed to the middle console that houses the air-con vent to warm up the middle row.

After trying to transport 5, 6 people it's very obvious the 3rd seating area is completely a waste. It's a 4 seater, not 6. No, i won't put our 2 kids in the 3rd row. The head rests are about 1cm from the rear window, imagine a rear impact with kids back there?

On top of that the "extra coverage" I bought is almost useless;

Paint scratches covered. Now I'm told only if 2"+ in length.
- their extra "diamond" coat and interior protection, nfg.

Free oil & filter. Apparently I have to pay the labour, this was never disclosed at the time of sale.

There are a few smaller things. Basically, all these little extras I could have almost got the GT model or a CX-5 for the amount I'm paying. The car itself is not bad, not good. Its a love/hate relationship that I never had with the 03 MPV (which was a much better vehical.) i doubt I'll be keeping this beyond 3 years. Whenever we can afford it I'll be looking at a different make/model, who knows.

 

[BOOSTR]

With a few products, the right foam pads & buffer you or someone else can eliminate the swirls and scratches. Now if the scratches are deep them wet sanding is in order but most likely your's are simply from some dealer idiot using dirty water, rags, brushes etc.

 

[markuszoom5]

Well, here is my 2 cents

I have had my 2010 Mazda 5 Sport with the appearance package for almost 3 years now. I agree with you, the new 5 looks somewhat lamer if it does not have side skirts and rear spoiler.
Well, I think those 3rd row seats are pretty lame, they are pretty much unusable, I just like the thought of them.
The only reason I bought the van was because of it's hauling capacity considering it's a 4 cylinder and because it was cheap.
You could have bought the Sienna or another van but it would have cost you at least 5k more.
I assume you have 2 kids, so the 4 of you can do 1st and 2nd row and leave the trunk for strollers and what not.
I don't even have any kids yet myself but you made me think about the safety of the 3rd row now.
I feel like I take a big risk when I load up my van with 6 people.
I also think that red and blue cars show scratches and swirls quite a bit.

 

[ukulele]

Here are my (2cents):

I have owned all color cars, the best ones for concealing the swirls that ALL CARS GET are white, gray and silver. Red can also show off all the swirls in bright sun. Black... forget about it. As many of you know my Mazda5 is black and I knew going in I would get swirl marks showing off in the sun, but hey, my Yaris was white and I was tired of having to wash it every week, I like to wash my cars like once every 2 months but usually a full detail, so I went with the darkest color possible.

All cars get swirl marks, not just the Mazdas. As soon as you rub ANYTHING on that clear coat, you get marks, could be the softest chamois or microfiber, doesn't make a difference. Car washes don't help it. If I don't have time or if it's Martian weather outside here in NJ, I take mine to a place that details MB's and BMW's. They charge like $250 for a full detail of my 5, but again, I do this every 2 months so it evens out. It's 100% by hand, I have never trusted the mechanical washes, they can bust your side mirrors and the owner isn't liable because he has a big ass sign when you drive in saying "Not responsible for damage to your vehicle" which to me is 100% bulls***.... so who's responsible, ME? Because I wanted to wash my car?

You can use ScratchX for the door handle area scratches and other areas prone to swirls and light scratches, and they also sell polishes for swirl marks that keep your clear coat shiny when you use it, but again, as soon as your car is washed it's going to get marks. Doing a car like a Mazda5 by hand will take you hours, or if you are good with an orbital, much less time but you have to know how to use an OB otherwise you will really F up your paint. Rule is, only go as aggressive as you have to to get the desired results.

As far as putting your kids in the 3rd row: Having a 4 year old and a newborn myself, I knew from the get-go I would not put either one in the 3rd row for the exact reason you highlighted. I do keep stuff back there though like a box of tissues. Amazingly enough, if you move the 2nd row up a bit, you can get a human back there. My bro is 6'0" even and he was able to squeeze in for a short trip to The Olive Garden in Woodbridge, NJ, he looked funny with his legs open but he was able to sit back there. Since it's my wife and my 2 kids 95% of the time, the Mazda5 was a good choice for us, more than 4 peeps and I would say, maybe it's time for a minivan.

I too have the love/hate thing but it's only for the vibration in the front end. Curiously, it's going away more and more but comes back once in while. I have hope that whatever part it is fails miserably so I can either 1. Get it fixed once and for all by the dealer under warranty or 2. Get into a massive wreck and I can sue the pants off of Mazda for not addressing the problem when I first reported it. Don't worry, I will share the settlement with you guys! (wink)

Also, PDR or Paintless Dent Removal service agreement add-ons, paint protection agreement add-ons and "Scotchguard" add-ons and all this other stuff has a lot of small print involved. I don't buy it, some ppl do but I don't, it's all a way for the dealer to pick your pocket, even the glass etching is a waste of money, if you think about it, who the hell is going to want to steal a Mazda5, even better, a Mazda5 with an infant car seat and a booster seat in the back?

 

[Robotazky]

Get the Maguire's Step 2 and 3 bottles of polish and wax. Scratches gone. Don't bother with Step 1 because it's a paint cleaner and you don't need that until the paint is discoloring, IMO. Spray the car down, even going to a spray wash if it's really dirty. Make sure the spray place has good spot free rinse and their filters are in good shape or you'll have water spots. Once it's clean give it a good hand scrubbing with clean microfiber towels, and not in the sun. Then wax it. Problem solved.

The reason I highly recommend the spray down first is because you rub dirt on the clear coat and scratch it unless you spray it off first. I'm hardcore about my paint care and it sounds like you are, too, somewhat. This is what I do and my cars always look brand new until I sell them, unless my wife drives it and tears the bumpers off, curbs the rims, etc.

 

[ukulele]

Get the Maguire's Step 2 and 3 bottles of polish and wax. Scratches gone. Don't bother with Step 1 because it's a paint cleaner and you don't need that until the paint is discoloring, IMO. Spray the car down, even going to a spray wash if it's really dirty. Make sure the spray place has good spot free rinse and their filters are in good shape or you'll have water spots. Once it's clean give it a good hand scrubbing with clean microfiber towels, and not in the sun. Then wax it. Problem solved.

The reason I highly recommend the spray down first is because you rub dirt on the clear coat and scratch it unless you spray it off first. I'm hardcore about my paint care and it sounds like you are, too, somewhat. This is what I do and my cars always look brand new until I sell them, unless my wife drives it and tears the bumpers off, curbs the rims, etc.

Glad my wife isn't the only one that does that. She gets mad when she takes the 5 out by herself and the kids, I always say "Make sure if you damage the car, don't bring it back home, just make sure you totally TOTALLY wreck it so the insurance company can declare it a total loss and I can buy a new one." Then she says "What about the kids? What about me?" to which I reply, "Like I said, if you crash, make it a good crash and don't bring it back."

 

[Robotazky]

Glad my wife isn't the only one that does that. She gets mad when she takes the 5 out by herself and the kids, I always say "Make sure if you damage the car, don't bring it back home, just make sure you totally TOTALLY wreck it so the insurance company can declare it a total loss and I can buy a new one." Then she says "What about the kids? What about me?" to which I reply, "Like I said, if you crash, make it a good crash and don't bring it back."

LOL! I have to say that the single action on my part that had the biggest impact towards reducing incidents and damage was to show her the equity loss in the car from damage. Once she realized that we (read: mainly HER) were losing thousands of dollars over that kind of stuff, she calmed down and started parking a little further out, slowing down for huge puddles, cleaning it out, etc. In our case, she responds really well to spreadsheet breakdowns, so I showed her KBB, Edmunds, and NADA before and after collisions that affect the "condition". When she saw Good was thousands less than Excellent, she shriveled a bit. I could see that it registered.

Until you make it hurt in a way that people understand, they'll just blame you for being an anal retentive control freak for taking care of your investments.

 

[ukulele]

LOL! I have to say that the single action on my part that had the biggest impact towards reducing incidents and damage was to show her the equity loss in the car from damage. Once she realized that we (read: mainly HER) were losing thousands of dollars over that kind of stuff, she calmed down and started parking a little further out, slowing down for huge puddles, cleaning it out, etc. In our case, she responds really well to spreadsheet breakdowns, so I showed her KBB, Edmunds, and NADA before and after collisions that affect the "condition". When she saw Good was thousands less than Excellent, she shriveled a bit. I could see that it registered.

Until you make it hurt in a way that people understand, they'll just blame you for being an anal retentive control freak for taking care of your investments.

Yeah, my wife doesn't care about money or cars or anything like that. Handbags and shoes?... that is a whole other story. If I were to take away a handbag or pair of shoes from her closet everytime she dinged the 5... yeah, that might make her understand. (yes)

 

[markuszoom5]

My wife had a honda civic that she bought brand new and 3 months later somebody scratched her rear bumper. She said oh well no big deal. I would have had a panic attack, not because I can''t pay to fix it, but because it just bothers me. But the other day she was cleaning her Coach purse out and saw that the inside had a few pen marks from having ink pens in there. She went frantic trying to clean it and research what will take out in. I told her that it's inside and nobody can see it, but she said that she just got the purse a couple months ago and it's terrible.
I have a delta sonic super pass for unlimited washes, and she goes months without washing her car. I wanted to get her the super pass, but she said no, and it was a waste of money for $20/month. I don't get it, just don't get it. But it's not a waste of money to spend $100s on handbags. LOL, enough with my ranting.

 

[DKaz]

Do you use those self serve wash places by any chance? Those brushes will swirl the hell out of your clear coat. Whatever protection packages you got at the dealer is usually bull. I told my brother to forego those, I could sealant his car as a favour and he could get the underbody coated for $99 anywhere.

I do scratch and paint chip repairs if you need my help. I don't detail, well I could but I hardly have time to detail my own car let alone anyone else's. lol.

 

[m5pa]

I use Griot's garage One Step paint sealant and orbital polisher on my 5 at least twice a year. It's a paint sealant with a light polish component to it and the 5 looks almost new once I get done with it. My car is silver, so it doesn't show swirls like darker colors. I've used Griots stuff for years and I've always been really happy with it, though it is a bit pricey. Once you use an orbital polisher, you'll never want to wax by hand again. And the results are so much better, as long as you don't mess it up of course.

 

[markuszoom5]

Well, I have to say, my 2010 Mazda 5 is white, so I do not see any swirls, but I surely see those orange dots, that only rubbing alcohol will take out (not clay bar liquid/or solid), but I only remove the bigger ones, as there is so many of them. But anyways, I just can't win.